Quincy native's TV crime drama picked up by Showtime

Thursday

May 17, 2018 at 4:24 PMMay 18, 2018 at 11:28 AM

A new Boston crime drama written and created by Quincy native – and former Patriot Ledger intern – Chuck MacLean will premiere on Showtime in 2019.

The 12-episode series, “City on a Hill,” is based on an original idea by Ben Affleck. It stars Kevin Bacon (“Patriots Day,” “Black Mass,” “Mystic River”), who is no stranger to Boston crime dramas, and Aldis Hodge (“Underground”). Affleck and Matt Damon are executive producers; Michael Cuesta (“American Assassin”) directs.

“City on a Hill” takes place in the early 1990s and tackles crime, racism, justice, corruption and law enforcement. It is a fictional account of the “Boston Miracle,” a multi-agency campaign that resulted in a dramatic decline in gun violence and murder rates.

“'City on a Hill' has the veneer of a classic Boston cops-and-robbers drama, but actually dives head first into challenging the very institutions it depicts,” Showtime CEO David Nevins said.

Hodge is assistant district attorney Decourcy Ward, a Brooklyn transplant who forms an unlikely alliance with a corrupt yet venerated FBI veteran, Jackie Rhodes (Bacon). Together, they take on a family of armored car robbers from Charlestown in a case that spirals out of control.

“The series is a penetrating look at the larger criminal justice system and those who operate within it.”

MacLean was raised in Quincy and Plymouth and grew up wanting to play right wing for the Bruins. Now, he lives in Los Angeles and also wrote the film, “Boston Strangler,” which is in development with Casey Affleck set to star. MacLean was an intern at The Patriot Ledger in the summer of 2008, writing stories about the Boston Pops and test driving a race car.

Ben Affleck and Damon grew up in Cambridge and both have been involved with other projects set in the city, including 1997's Oscar-winning “Good Will Hunting.” Affleck directed and starred in 2010’s “The Town.” Damon played a Boston cop in 2006’s “The Departed.”

Dana Barbuto may be reached at dbarbuto@ledger.com or follow her on Twitter @dbarbuto_Ledger.